Process of converting a photographic image on a gelatine surface into a relief or intaglio



UNITED y, gSTATES HENRY SUTTON, OFBALLARAT, vicToRrA'.

vProcess lor c-oNvrRnNe A PHoToeR'APHlC IMAGE 0N A GELATINE SURFACE lNTAGLlo.

INT0 A RLIEF You ySPECIFIC,A'rrorr forming pari; of Letters Patent No. 381,091, atea Aprn 1o, ieee, application filed November 9, 1587. Serial No. 254.698. (Nospecimens.) l

To a/ZZ' whom/'lit may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRYSUTTON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Ballarat, in the British Colony of Victoria,

music-seller, `have invented an Improved Pro cess of Converting a Photographic Image on a Gelatine Surface into a Relief or Intaglio Printing-Surface; and I do hereby declare that the 'f following is a full, clear, and exact description tones have been represented it has been due to the exercise of very great manualskill, andk when produced it requires very greatcareand ability on the part of the printer' to produce a satisfactory representation on paper.

f It is well known that the halfftones of photographs may be brokenup by dot, stipple, line hatch, grain, or other pattern.

I yknow of no method by which a photo-l graphic image on a gelatine surface can be automatically converted into a relief or intaglio printing-surface.

Now, this invention is 'designed for the es` pecial' purpose of automatically converting a vphotographic image on a gelatine surface intoga relief or intaglio printing-surface which will faithfully represent the delicate lights and shades or half-tones, said printingsurface. be-

ing of such a` kind that an ordinary printer with ordinary appliances can without difficulty utilizev it for printing purposes. Y

In carrying out my process, I' take an ordinary sensitized gelatine plate bearingr a photograph broken up by `any patternor grain,

` as before described, and I immerse lit in water,

the -temperatureof which must be below that at which the particular gelatine used will melt or dissolve. Here I allow it to remain until all the gelatine swells by absorption of water;

but the extent to which this is allowed must be determined by the character of the picture rect on my printing-surfaces, l

usua wax squeeze, and I can cast.stereo:`

PATENTv r Orricmf y and the judgmentof the operator..l lAfter rel moving the plate from this bath I remove the lfree water fromf its surface, preferably,l byia Vslight rinse in alcohol or spirits of wine.y I

then subject this plate to agradually-increas-y ing temperatureuntil it reaches aboutthat at which the'particular gelatine used begins to f melt, and I continue this heat u ntil all or nearly all lthe wateror moisture is driven ofi".` The result of this is that those portionsv of the gelatine which are unaffected by the action of light and which are freely absorbent of water melt?y and are drawn by capillary attraction underefl the unmelted' portions, forcing the'V latteruipy f il f 6 5y orother pattern by which the photographic up being graduated in V,size

in relief,rthe dots, s tipplesgdines, grai1'is,jhatch,.y

image is Vbroken and `form 1n precise proportion totheactionzg v y of flight, and of light and developmentfon such photographic image. This completes rnygprcjV CBSS.

If the photographic image onthe plate heated.v f .Y l

be a negative the printing-surface produced.l

printing-'surface will loe in relief.

terial, it nayrbe used dfrcct in a n press, or if on metal orvother suitabley surface it may b e used direct in the copper-plate press;

will be in intaglio; if it be a positive7 the s A Y If the gelatine be on a sufficiently thick sheet "ofglasapronwood or metal or .other hard Ina-p` typographie f but if itbe on the ordinary thickness iilglass;V j

electrotypes or stereotypes must be 'usedjfon ,the copper-plate press.

types andzstereotypes may be 'madelfrom'- my*` printing-surfacesin the same way, amd'much' more easily and quickly than `from ordinary engravings,

type metal direct on my yprinting Es'u'rfaces withouttheintervention ofthe paper o' molds used in stereotypy. N

immersed this for five mmutesjn waterbf the laster inasmuch as I can electrtypedi-yl thus ysaving the temperature of 80 Fahrenheit, and have then removed the free Water by dipping the plate in a bath of spirits of wine. for ten seconds, and have then removed the plate and fanned the spirits of wine dry from its surface. I have then placed it on a copper plate supported on feet or legs, and heated it by means of a Bunsen gasburnerr until it became about the temperature of 212 Fahrenheit. This heat I have continued for two minutes, when I havefound my object accomplished.

I do not confine myself to any particular uses to which my printing-surfaces may be applied, and I wish it to Vbe distinctly understood that I do not claim the production of photographic pictures on gelatine plates broken up or diversiiied by dot, stipple, grain, or pattern of any kind, nor to the immersion ofsuch plates in water for the purpose of causing the unaffected gelatine to swell and rise into relief, as I am aware that all this has been done before; but

W'hat I do claim'as of my invention is- The herein-described method of converting a photographic image on a gelatine surface into a relief or intaglio printing-surface,which consists in immersing the plate bearing the photographic image in water of a temperature below that of the melting-point of the unexposed parts of the gelatine, in order to swell the same by absorption, then taking out the plate and removing the free -Water from the surface thereof,then exposing the plate to a degree of heat at which the unexposed parts lof the gelatine will begin to 4melt until the water-absorbed gelatine has been dissolved, substantially as described.

-HENRY SUTTON.

Witnesses:

EDWARD WATERS, WALTER CHARLES HART. 

